Sports
Top 25 roundup: Ole Miss pulls off late upset of No. 4 Tennessee
Mar 5, 2025; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi Rebels guard Matthew Murrell (11) reacts against the Tennessee Volunteers during the second half at The Sandy and John Black Pavilion at Ole Miss. Mandatory Credit: Wesley Hale-Imagn Images Jaemyn Brakefield’s tiebreaking putback with 7.5 seconds left capped a massive second-half performance as Ole Miss stunned No. 4 Tennessee 78-76 on Wednesday in Oxford, Miss.
After Tennessee’s Igor Milicic Jr. converted a four-point play with 40 seconds left to knot it at 76-all, Brakefield, a senior who scored all 19 of his points in the second half, grabbed an offensive rebound and put in the game-winner. Milicic missed a short shot in the lane at the buzzer that would have forced overtime.
The Rebels (21-9, 10-7 Southeastern Conference) got 13 points and 10 rebounds from Dre Davis, plus 13 points from Malik Dia. Matthew Murrell scored 12 as Ole Miss broke a four-game head-to-head losing streak against Tennessee. Ole Miss won its second game in a row after a three-game skid.
The Volunteers (24-6, 11-6) got 17 points from Jordan Gainey and 15 from Chaz Lanier. Felix Okpara had 13 points and seven boards, while Zakai Zeigler totaled eight points and 15 assists.
No. 5 Florida 99, No. 7 Alabama 94
Alex Condon scored a career-best 27 points and collected 10 rebounds and the Gators clinched the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Southeastern Conference tournament with a solid victory over the Crimson Tide at Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Walter Clayton Jr. recorded 22 points, eight assists and five rebounds for the Gators (26-4, 13-4 SEC), who won for the 11th time in the past 13 games. Thomas Haugh added 12 points and Alijah Martin had 10 for Florida.
Mark Sears amassed 30 points, six rebounds and five assists in his final home game for the Crimson Tide (23-7, 12-5), who have dropped four of their past six games. Labaron Philon scored 19 points and Clifford Omoruyi added 11 points and seven rebounds for Alabama. Grant Nelson and Aiden Sherrell each had 10 points.
No. 9 Texas Tech 91, Colorado 75
JT Toppin had 30 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Red Raiders over the Buffaloes in Lubbock, Texas.
Chance McMillian added 15 points for Texas Tech (23-7, 14-5 Big 12), which remains in a second-place tie with No. 24 Arizona in the conference. The Red Raiders have won two straight and five of their past seven games.
Sebastian Rancik and Bangot Dak each scored 12 points to lead Colorado (11-19, 2-17), which has lost three consecutive games and four of the past five.
No. 11 Clemson 78, Boston College 69
Jaeden Zackery scored a game-high 21 points and Chase Hunter finished with 18 points to lead the Tigers to a victory over the Eagles in Chestnut Hill, Mass.
Zackery, who spent three seasons at Boston College before he transferred to Clemson, shot 7 of 12 from the field. Viktor Lakhin added 11 points and 13 rebounds for the Tigers (25-5, 17-2 ACC), who extended their winning streak to seven games and have won eight straight ACC road games.
Boston College freshman Jayden Hastings made each of his eight field-goal attempts and scored a season-high 18. The Eagles (12-18, 4-15) received 15 points from Elijah Strong and 14 from Dion Brown.
No. 12 Wisconsin 74, Minnesota 67
John Blackwell scored 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as the Badgers held on for a victory over the Golden Gophers in Minneapolis.
John Tonje added 18 points and pulled down seven rebounds for Wisconsin (23-7, 13-6 Big Ten), which bounced back from a loss against No. 8 Michigan State in its previous game.
Brennan Rigsby scored 18 points on 6-for-10 shooting to lead Minnesota (15-15, 7-12). Lu’Cye Patterson contributed 15 points.
No. 13 Maryland 71, No. 17 Michigan 65
Rodney Rice scored 19 points to lead the Terrapins to a Big Ten win over the Wolverines in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Derik Queen had 17 points and 12 rebounds and Selton Miguel added 17 points for Maryland (23-7, 13-6 Big Ten), which won its fifth road game of the season and stayed in the hunt for a double-bye in next week’s Big Ten tournament.
Vladislav Goldin had 20 points and 15 rebounds and Danny Wolf scored 20 points with eight rebounds for Michigan (22-8, 14-5), which dropped its second straight home game. The Wolverines finish the regular season Sunday at Michigan State.
No. 14 Louisville 85, Cal 68
Terrence Edwards Jr. hit seven 3-pointers and scored a game-high 35 points as the host Cardinals stretched their winning streak to eight games by defeating the Golden Bears.
Edwards made 11 of 19 shots from the field as the Cardinals (24-6, 17-2 ACC) kept pace with Clemson in a tie for second place in the conference, one game behind Duke. Chucky Hepburn and J’Vonne Hadley added 16 points apiece.
Jovan Blacksher Jr. scored 22 points for the Golden Bears (13-17, 6-13), who shot 29.6 percent from the floor.
Oklahoma 96, No. 15 Missouri 84
Jeremiah Fears scored a career-high 31 points, hit 12 of 12 free-throw attempts and dished out five assists to lead the Sooners to an upset of the Tigers in Norman, Okla.
Oklahoma (18-12, 5-12 SEC) snapped its two-game losing streak and boosted its NCAA Tournament resume. Sam Godwin had 12 points in the first half but didn’t play in the second half for the Sooners as he sat at the end of the bench with ice on his right knee. Mohamed Wague chipped in 12 points and Jalon Moore added 11 points and seven rebounds.
Mark Mitchell led Missouri (21-9, 10-7) with 18 points. Caleb Grill scored 16 points and had eight rebounds and Marques Warrick added 10 points for the Tigers, who have lost three of their past four games.
UConn 72, No. 20 Marquette 66
Alex Karaban scored 21 points to lead the Huskies to a victory over the Golden Eagles in Storrs, Conn.
UConn (21-9, 13-6 Big East) moved into third place in the Big East thanks to its tiebreaker over the Golden Eagles. Four other players scored in double figures for the Huskies, with Samson Johnson providing 10 points and 11 rebounds.
David Joplin led Marquette (22-8, 13-6) with 23 points on 7-for-13 shooting. Kam Jones added 21 points.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Thunder set to take on injury-depleted Mavericks
Feb 25, 2026; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Jared McCain (3) dribbles in the second half against the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has only played one game with Jared McCain but the recently acquired guard has made a big impression for the Oklahoma City Thunder, both during Gilgeous-Alexander’s absence with an abdominal strain and during Friday’s overtime win over Denver.
Gilgeous-Alexander, McCain, and the Thunder take on the Dallas Mavericks on the road Sunday.
“He has great shooting touch, as we all see,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “He’s going to continue to get better as he plays in our system and learns our system more. Yeah, kid’s good. Really talented at basketball. He can grow as much as he wants to. Sky’s the limit.”
McCain was acquired in a Feb. 4 trade with Philadelphia, the day after Gilgeous-Alexander suffered the injury that kept him out nine games before his return Friday.
The sample size remains relatively small, but McCain’s production has turned upward significantly during his nine games with Oklahoma City.
After averaging 6.6 points and shooting 38.5% overall and 37.8% on 3-pointers in 37 games with the 76ers, McCain is averaging 11.9 points while shooting 48.1% from the field and 45.9% from deep since the trade.
Where McCain said he’s experienced the most growth, though, is on the defensive end as he acclimates to the Thunder’s system.
“Being able to have such elite defenders and just watch it every day, it helps me,” McCain said. “… I think when you focus on the defensive side, offense comes.”
McCain hit some big shots, including a fourth-quarter 3-pointer, in Friday’s come-from-behind win that gave Oklahoma City its sixth win in eight games.
McCain figures to continue to have a significant role, especially with Jalen Williams remaining out with a hamstring strain and Ajay Mitchell out with an abdominal strain.
Dallas comes into Sunday’s game having dropped back-to-back games and 12 of its last 14.
Sunday’s matchup is the last of three between the teams this season.
Oklahoma City has won the previous two, including 21-point win over the Mavericks on Dec. 5 in their most recent meeting.
While the Thunder got a big boost Friday with the return of Gilgeous-Alexander, Dallas is still without Cooper Flagg.
Flagg hasn’t played since Feb. 10 with a left foot sprain and figures to miss at least two more games.
The Mavericks were more short-handed than just missing Flagg in Friday’s 19-point home loss to Memphis, playing without Marvin Bagley III, Klay Thompson, P.J. Washington and Caleb Martin among others.
“The continuity is definitely not there right now with the injuries,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd said. “I think as we go forward, hopefully we’ll get some bodies back.”
While Oklahoma City has integrated McCain in quickly, the Mavericks are still working through things with their new-look lineup after the deadline deal that was centered around trading Anthony Davis to Washington.
“We’re learning on the fly,” Brandon Williams said. “… It’s pretty tough just trying to gel with each other in a short amount of time, and it’s on us point guards to try to take on that responsibility.”
Dallas made a roster move Saturday, waiving Tyus Jones. The Mavericks will sign Ryan Nembhard, who had been on a two-way contract, to a two-year deal, according to reports.
For the Mavericks, Sunday’s game is the last at home before a six-game road trip.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Benny Gealer shoots lights out in Stanford's runaway win over SMU
Feb 28, 2026; Stanford, California, USA; Stanford Cardinal head coach Kyle Smith gestures during the first half against the Southern Methodist University Mustangs at Maples Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images Benny Gealer posted a career-high 30 points and went 7-for-11 from beyond the arc as Stanford dominated visiting SMU 95-75 on Saturday.
Gealer added four rebounds and a career-high six steals for the Cardinal (18-11, 7-9 Atlantic Coast Conference), who finish their regular season next week on the road and went 12-6 at home.
Ebuka Okorie added 22 points and six assists, and Aidan Cammann contributed 15 points, six rebounds, and four assists. Stanford went 14-for-27 from outside the arc and made 90.6% of its free throws.
Boopie Miller posted 26 points and five assists for the Mustangs (19-10, 8-8), who finished their California road trip with an 0-2 record after a 73-69 loss to Cal on Wednesday.
Jaron Pierre Jr. added 21 points and six rebounds. SMU shot 47.4% from the field and 38.9% from beyond the arc, while allowing 17 points off of the team’s nine turnovers.
Okorie posted seven points, including a shot from beyond the arc, to give Stanford an early 12-7 lead with 16:03 remaining in the first half.
Gealer made his first three perimeter shots to increase Stanford’s lead to 20-12 with 12:55 remaining. Miller’s layup ended an SMU scoring drought to make it 20-18 with 8:04 left in the half.
The Cardinal failed to tally any points for over five minutes, but then went on a 12-2 run to go up 32-20 on a Ryan Agarwal three-pointer with 2:55 left in the half. The Cardinal held off a push by the Mustangs to take a 34-27 lead into halftime.
Stanford opened the second half on an 11-4 run to take a 45-31 lead with 17:34 remaining on another three from Agarwal.
SMU went on a 12-4 run to cut into the deficit and make it 53-47 at the 11:24 mark, but Stanford responded to increase the lead to 60-47 with 10 minutes to play.
That started a 19-4 surge for the Cardinal which effectively put the game away. They took their largest lead of the day, 72-51, with 7:50 left.
SMU attempted to climb back into things but failed to cut the deficit to less than 15 points. Stanford led by as many as 23 points in the final minute.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Women's Top 25 roundup: No. 8 Michigan rolls past No. 14 Maryland
Michigan’s head coach Kim Barnes Arico calls out to the team during the first quarter in the game against Michigan State on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing. Olivia Olson scored 28 points with eight rebounds and Syla Swords added 17 points as No. 8 Michigan closed out its regular-season schedule with an 87-69 victory over No. 14 Maryland at Ann Arbor, Mich.
The Wolverines (24-5, 15-3 Big Ten) moved into sole possession of second place in the Big Ten Conference standings, a half of a game ahead of No. 9 Iowa, which concludes its season on Sunday at Wisconsin. The Hawkeyes beat Michigan in the lone regular-season meeting.
Mila Holloway had 12 points and six assists for Michigan, which won its second consecutive game after losing to Iowa last Sunday. The Wolverines went 3-1 to close out the regular season, all in games against ranked teams.
Oluchi Okananwa scored 19 points and Yarden Garzon added 14 for the Terrapins (23-7, 11-7), who allowed Michigan to score at least 20 points in every quarter and never recovered from a 46-31 deficit at halftime.
No. 25 Princeton 62, Harvard 49
The visiting Tigers didn’t let an early deficit prevent them from surging past the Crimson in Cambridge, Mass., for their fourth consecutive victory and sixth in their last seven games.
Fadima Tall scored a game-high of 18 points with nine rebounds for Princeton (23-3, 11-2 Ivy League). Skye Belker added 13 points, Ashley Chea had 12 and Olivia Hutcherson blocked three shots. The Tigers shot 24 of 51 (47%) from the field and scored 18 points off their opponent’s 15 turnovers.
Harvard, which led 13-11 after the opening quarter, lost for just the second time in its last nine games. The Crimson, which made just 17 of 57 field-goal attempts (29.8%), including 7 of 27 from long range, was led by Karlee White with 10 points and Olivia Jones with nine boards.
–Field Level Media
Thunder set to take on injury-depleted Mavericks
Benny Gealer shoots lights out in Stanford's runaway win over SMU
